Andre Heimgartner has been the standout driver of the Kiwi trio early on, after taking two solid results in qualifying and Race 14. Matthew Payne was able to recover well after fortunes did not go his way, and Ryan Wood was unlucky to lose places after a cross-threaded wheel nut saw him going down the order.
Qualifying
This weekend’s racing started off with the knockout format for Boost Mobile Qualifying, meaning that the first session would decide 11th – 24th place for Race 14, with session two deciding the top ten.
With changing conditions playing a huge part in the first session of qualifying, both Heimgartner and Wood showed good pace, both sitting in the top 10 for the majority of the session. It was a trickier session for Payne, who was unable to improve enough and could not progress in the slippery track conditions.
Wood and Heimgartner both scraped through to the second session after finishing in ninth and tenth. The Chevrolet and Supra drivers looked notably fast in these conditions, with Anton de Pasquale and David Reynolds top at the end of the first session.
Drivers soon headed out again, with Feeney sitting at the top in the dying stages. Heimgartner sat in third with a minute to go, while Wood sat further back in seventh. As drivers all improved in the last moments, Heimgartner was able to remain up the fast end to qualify in fourth place, as Wood held on to seventh place. Wood’s teammate Chaz Mostert was able to take pole position for Race 14, his first as reigning champion.
Race
At the green flag, Heimgartner and Wood were able to hold position in fourth in eighth, as de Pasquale was able to cease the lead from reigning champion Mostert. After a difficult qualifying, Payne was able to start making moves immediately and was soon up to fourteenth on lap four.
The short nature of the track provided lots of quick moves. David Reynolds had soon cycled up into second, while Kostecki had moved up into third after his penalty from qualifying left him with a two-place penalty.
On lap six, Aaron Cameron was turned around during some mid-pack chaos, leaving him stranded down in last place. By lap ten, Heimgartner still remained on the fringe of the podium in fourth while Wood and Payne had both made moves forward into seventh and thirteenth.
The stewards soon announced a fifteen-second penalty for recent first-time winner Kai Allen after his run in with Cameron. Mostert was starting to look comfortable out front, pushing the lead out to over a second over de Pasquale.
As Will Brown closed up to Thomas Randle, Payne was able to put himself in the best position possible, and managed to sneak past Randle as Brown made his move.
As drivers stated to cycle into the lane, Heimgartner soon moved into the podium positions in third, ahead of Wood in fifth and Payne in ninth. Mostert pitted from the lead on lap twenty-three, and emeged ahead of Reynolds to be the net race leader.
Heimgartner had soon closed up to the back of Kostecki, trailing him by half a second by lap twenty-six, and both drivers headed in for their compulsory stop as they approached traffic. A quick stop from the Brad Jones Racing left Heimgartner emerging from the lane ahead of Kostecki, but leaving him behind Mostert and Reynolds to sit in a net third place.
Wood’s chance of a good result went begging soon after, as a cross-threaded nut on the right rear cost him crucial time and sent him down the order. Payne soon moved up to second place on track, but was yet to take his compulsory stop.
Payne was one of the last drivers on track to head into the lane, electing to head in on lap thirty-three. A slower stop than usual again cost him time, leaving him behind Cam Waters on track, down in thirteenth.
After being turned around earlier on in the race, Cameron was soon passed by the leaders and got caught up in between Heimgartner and Kostecki, allowing Kostecki to get past the Kiwi, who was soon passed by Feeney on a different strategy.
After pitting early on, Mostert was comfortably able to hold a four-second lead over Reynolds. At the same time, third to sixth had closed up on each other and it was setting up to be a great finish.
Payne continued his charge through the field, and sat in ninth with six laps to go. As the laps counted down, Heimgartner was unable to keep on the back of Kostecki and Feeney, leaving him in a comfortable fifth.
Mostert crossed the line first, taking home his first win of the season and first win as a champion. Reynolds came home for a surprise second place, ahead of Kostecki after an extremely hard fought battle between himself and championship rival Feeney.
Heimgartner came home as the lead Kiwi in fifth, which is a great result after a hard start to the season. Payne was able to do what he does best and climb his way through the field to finish in eighth, ahead of Wood who lost places through no fault of his own, and finished in fourteenth.
Drivers will not have much down-time between racing as they prepare for Race 15 at 6pm NZST.
